


red and gold illuminate me

by amaresu



Series: No Fate [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2019-01-05 14:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12191724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaresu/pseuds/amaresu
Summary: Peggy Carter once climbed out a window to run away from her soul mate.  Pepper won't do anything that dramatic.





	red and gold illuminate me

It hurts worse than she thought it would. Almost like a small fire working it's way up her wrist. She looks down in time to see the last of her mark go from matte black to a startlingly shiny red-gold blend that does nothing so much as remind her of Tony. She'd always liked the design of her mark, a dragon made out of office supplies; the head, a stapler, resting on the back of her hand and the tail, paper clips, trailing down her arm, with the body of binder clips twirling fully around the body of her wrist. Elegant and powerful, she'd always seen herself as the dragon.

Now though Pepper just wishes she'd worn more bracelets to cover the thing. Looking up she can see the stunned eyes of David Bassin, CEO of Bassin Security, looking at her from across the room. She'd stepped to the side to answer a phone call and accidentally met his gaze. She'd known who he was, had looked into his company once for security services, but never actually been in the same room as him before. 

Part of her wants to follow the script she's known since she was a child. Walk across the room, maybe lean in for a kiss, plan her life with her soul mate. The rest of her is having a mild panic attack she notices dimly. Her breath is coming fast and sharp and she can feel the tears prickling at her eyes. She takes long, slow, breaths while fighting the urge to curl up in a corner with her knees pulled up to her chest.

A quick look shows that no one else has noticed and David is just starting to smile at her. She can see him starting to move towards her and has to fight a new burst of panic. Looking back at her wrist she reminds herself she's the dragon. She is Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries. A soul mark won't bring her down. David is still walking across the room though, slowly and without bringing any attention to what had just happened, but smiling the entire way. Suddenly the memory of Steve telling her about Peggy Carter climbing out a bathroom window hits her and she can breath.

Her panic subsides as she quickly and quietly exits the conference meet-and-greet before David can reach her. She's called her car around by the time she reaches the elevator. It's less than three minutes since she first felt her mark changing and she climbs into the car driving to the airfield. Less than an hour since since she arrived in London and she's having the Stark jet refueled. A series of text messages ensures that all of the best Start Industries lawyers will be waiting for her call once she's in the air and headed back to New York.

When she was a girl she'd sat around with her friend, comparing marks, coming up with elaborate fantasies about how she'd meet her soul mate. They'd talked about finally falling in love with their one special person. They'd tried to figure out what the designs meant. She remembers sharing her dreams about her future husband, chosen to be her perfect match. It had been a fun game.

Now she's all grown up and her soul mark is in Tony's colors. If she's going to believe in fate that's the sign she'll take.

She calls Tony on her way to the airport, letting him know that she was heading back early. Letting him know they needed to talk as soon as she got in. “No, Tony everything is fine. Will be fine. Just, I need to talk to you right away, so stay in New York.”

He doesn't listen and instead meets her over the Atlantic. His frantic calls as he makes his way to her small office on the plane, “Pepper? Pep? What's wrong? Why'd you leave London?”

She's so caught up in what the lawyers are doing that she doesn't even notice him at first, but can't help but smile in happiness at him as he makes his way to her and grabs her hands, kneeling on the floor next to her. She just stares at his stupid face and smiles until he looks down at her wrist. The worry falls off his face replaced instead with the calm facade that she knows means he's trying to hold in his own pain, “No, Tony, it's okay. I've got it handled. The lawyers are drawing up the paperwork and we may have to get married, but this will be fine.”

He backs away from the hand she tries to hold to his face. Drops her other hand and stands up to walk across the room. She frowns as he wraps his arms around himself and says with false cheer, “Of course you have it handled. You're amazing like that. Will you stay with Stark Industries? And a wedding! I'll send a gift, you'll forgive me not going obviously.”

He looks so sad that Pepper has to hold back a physical reaction with how much it hurts her heart. Of course he thought she was leaving him. He's never really believed that she wasn't just making time until her soul mate came along. She knows all the things people have said about his white scars along the back of his right hand, from Howard Stark to Newsweek, and Pepper would kill them all if it would help. It won't, so she doesn't waste time on revenge fantasies and instead walks over to him, “No, Tony. I'm not leaving. The lawyers are writing up everything we need to make sure David Bassin can't get a single foothold in Stark Industries. They're making sure he can't have a single say in my life or finances. Or yours.”

“What?” It's all Tony says and he looks so surprised Pepper could cry. Instead she kisses him gently. Her crazy inventor, asshole billionaire, with a heart made of glass. He's always believed in soul mates, more than anyone else she's ever met. She's spent years trying to get him to believe she wouldn't leave him and now she can prove it. Maybe he can finally believe she'll stay. 

“I choose you.” She whispers against his lips, “I've always chosen you. I made my decision years ago and some stupid mark on my wrist isn't going to change that. I love you. I don't even know David Bassin. I don't want him, I want you.”

She can tell he still doesn't completely believe her. She can see him looking at her wrist and she knows there will be fights about it in the future. There will be a wedding to plan, legal documents and marriage still trump soul mates when it comes to next of kin issues. The lawyers will have paperwork to sign when they get back to New York. There will be a million and one questions to answer with the shareholders and press and their friends. But here and now she has Tony holding her in his arms. Here and now she has the man she loves and two hours left on their flight. 

She leaves the lawyers arguing over logistics and legalities on the conference call and pulls Tony behind her to the bedroom on the plane. She'd told him once that she'd never use the tacky thing for anything but sleeping. Now seems like a good time to break that promise.


End file.
